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It’s all trick and no treat for MF Global Holdings, which filed for bankruptcy today. The brokerage firm was slammed with losses tied to the $6.3 billion worth of European debt that it holds, and has been struggling to stay afloat. As recently as this weekend, CEO Jon Corzine – former Governor of New Jersey and Goldman Sachs CEO – had hoped to sell parts of MF Global in order to salvage the firm. Today, MF Global filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the bankruptcy filing may be part of a combination filing and sale, in which “MF Global or parts of the company sought bankruptcy protection and Interactive Brokers Group, a rival based in Greenwich, Conn., bought at least some of the company’s assets.”

In the bankruptcy filing, MF Global Holdings is listed as “one fo the world’s leading brokers in markets for listed derivatives” and “one of 20 primary dealers authorized to trade U.S. government securities with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.” This morning, the company confirmed that this was no longer the case with a one-line press release. “MF Global Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: MF), today confirmed that the New York Federal Reserve has suspended MF Global's designation as a primary dealer,” says the release.

MF Global’s bankruptcy filing includes a list of the fifty largest unsecured claims held by creditors of the company. Though half of the 50 largest claims range between $10,000 and $62,000, the largest debt is markedly higher. The top claim, held by JP Morgan, is bond debt of $1.2 billion. The next four largest claims are all held by Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, and represent another billion dollars in bond debt. UPDATE: The first publication of this story said Deutsche Bank held $1 billion in claims. Those claims are actually held by Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, which serves as an administrator for individual bondholders. The above paragraph has been updated.

As of June 30th of this year, MF Global Holdings had 1.5 million shares of Series A Preferred Stock and 400,000 shares of Series B Preferred Stock outstanding. The firm also had 164.9 million shares of common stock outstanding. Those shares dropped 67% in price last week, and pre-market trading was stopped this morning, in advance of the bankruptcy filing news. The stock is not trading at press time.